Grove heater apparatus

ABSTRACT

A grove heater apparatus is provided having an oil burning container for holding and burning the oils therein. An after burner is provided to a fuel burning grove heater by having air pass through the base and through the oil burner and container for dispersion into the rising heat from the burning fuel thereby increasing the efficiency of the heater while reducing air pollutants. A soot remover is also provided for removing soot from the after burner.

United States Patent [191 Hobby, deceased l l GROVE HEATER APPARATUS [76] Inventor: James L. Hobby, deceased, late of PO. Box 632, Eagle Lake, Fla. 33839 Thelma T. Hobby, surviving spouse [22] Filed: July 26, 1971 21 Appl. No.: 166,036

[52] U.S. Cl 126/595, 15/104.04, 431/122, 431/342 [5 l] Int. Cl A23b U114 [58] Field of Search 431/342, 341, 122; 126/595; 165/95; 15/104.04

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 345,695 9/1836 Davis 165/95 654,488 7/1900 Peterson 165/95 765,092 7/1904 MacFadyen 165/95 Troutman 431/342 1451 Mar. 4, 1975 1,145,966 7/1915 Bergmann 15/10404 1,419,570 6/1922 Keller 431/342 2,070,142 2/1937 Scheu 431/122 2,182,143 12/1939 Campbell 431/342 3,498,729 3/1970 Cross et al. 431/342 X Primary Examiner-Meyer Perlin Assistant Bummer-W, E. Tapolcai, Jr Altorney, Agent, or Firm-Duckworth, Hobby & Allen [57] ABSTRACT A grove heater apparatus is provided having an oil burning container for holding and burning the oils therein. An after burner is provided to a fuel burning grove heater by having air pass through the base and through the oil burner and container for dispersion into the rising heat from the burning fuel thereby increasing the efficiency of the heater while reducing air pollutants. A soot remover is also provided for removing soot from the after burner.

1 Claim, 4 Drawing Figures PATENTEUIAR 3.868.944

ATTORNEYS.

INVENTOR.

GROVE HEATER APPARATUS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to grove heaters and especially to a grove heater adapted to produce combustion in the heater thereby increasing the efficiency of the grove heater while reducing the pollution from the burning fuel.

In the past, numerous methods have been utilized in an attempt to prevent freeze damage to orchard trees, such as citrus trees. Such methods include covering the trees with tents, canvas, or the like. It has also been suggested more recently to prevent freeze damage by the use of wind machines which are essentially a large airplane type propellor being driven by a power source attempting to stir up the air to mix the lower stratified cold air with the warmer air at higher levels. Most common means, however, has been to attempt to heat the grove and trees with various types of grove heaters. This was first accomplished by building large fires in the groves or by placing heating devices at spaced intervals. To prevent the loss of radiant energy from the trees and surrounding earth, smudge fires were used to produce a dense black smoke by incomplete combustion. Smudge fires were commonly used at one time in an attempt to increase the efficiency of the heating and prevent the loss of radiant energy from the earth. The most common systems presently use oil or gas type fuel grove heaters which are generally simple heaters for burning the fuel to generate heat in an area under the trees being protected. One of the most common types of heaters in use in the past has been a simple orchard heater having an oil burning container for containing the fuel, such as oil or kerosene, which is lighted in the container with the heat directed up a stack. This type of heater has operated satisfactorily but grove operators have had problems with the bottoms rusting out of the oil containers which are usually set directly on the earth and which has the galvanized coating common in these type heaters peel off by the oil burning in the con tainer heating the bottom of high temperatures. These heaters have also come in for criticism in recent years because of their inefficiency, generating large amounts of air pollution. Typical of this type of prior heater can be seen in US. Pat. No. 2,721,608, in which the lower portion ofa stack has been improved with air admission apertures but having the usual oil burner part with a stack attached thereto. It has also been suggested in US. Pat. No. 3,409,001 to provide a space heater baseplate construction for use with outdoor space heaters.

It is accordingly one object of the present invention to utilize the common grove heater having a burner but which is adapted to operate more efficiently by providing a more complete combustion to reduce air pollution and for increasing the life of the burner while providing a heater that is economical to manufacture and easy to operate and maimtain.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to grove heaters and especially to grove heaters of the type for burning various types of fuel oil in which the burning takes place in a burning pot which contains the fuel which is lit and allowed to burn until the fuel is gone. The burning pot has a bottom, side walls and cover in which the cover has an opening for lighting the fuel and allowing air to enter the burning pot for the combustion. A base member is provided for the burning pot to set on. The base plate has openings therein to allow air to pass under the burning pot and an air duct passing through the burning pot from an opening in the bottom, to allow air passing through the openings in the base to pass through the air duct and accordingly through the burning fuel. An after burner assembly is placed on the top of the air duct for forcing the air through small openings therein, into the rising heated air from the burner pot, and a stack is placed on top of the burner pot cover surrounding the after burner so that the oil being burned in the oil container will be subjected to after burning for a more complete combustion and the burning pot will be cooled by the air kept directly off the earth. A soot remover is provided for the after burner in which wire rings fit around the after burner and are connected together. The interconnection is then connected to a handle element passing through an opening in the stack to allow the wire rings to be moved up and down for loos ening soot built up on the after burner. The after burner provided is a hollow cylindrical member with small apertures around its surface and a cap to force the air into the stack in desired manner.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Other objects, features and advantages of this invention will be apparent from a study of the written description and the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of the grove heater in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of portions cut away to illustrate the operation of the heater;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 33 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a sectional view illustrating the operation of the soot remover from the after burner.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to FIGS. 1-3, the preferred embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in which a burning pot and fuel container 10 have a bottom 11 and circular walls 12. The burning pot has an air duct 13 passing therethrough connecting with an opening in the bottom 14 and extending above the burner pot 10. A base member 15 has a plurality of apertures 16 therein and is shaped generally in truncated hollow cone shape adapted for the oil burner 10 to set thereon. This base prevents the oil burner from setting directly on the earth where the moisture from the earth can increase the corrosion of the bottom of the oil burner 10. It also allows air to pass through the apertures 16 and through the duct 13, cooling portions of the burning pot 10. An after burner unit 17 attaches directly to the duct 13 and has a hollow cylinder with a plurality of apertures 18 therein with one row of apertures 20 being located on the upper portion thereof. A generally cylin drical cap or cover 21 with a top 22 on top of the after burner 17 so that air passing through the duct 13 will pass into the after burner 17, be blocked from directly proceeding through the top of the after burner 17 and will be forced through the apertures 18 and 20 in narrow streams. Member 23 sets inside the oil burner 12 and a cover 24 attaches to the top of the oil burning pot 10. The cover has an opening 25 which is used to light the fuel located in the burning pot and has a sliding handle 26 which is adapted to vary an opening for allowing air into the burning pot for the combustion of the fuel therein. Cover 24 also has a stack holder 27 for the attachment of a stack 28 thereto. Stack 28 has an extension stack 30 which may be provided with a cover 31 which can be used to prevent rain from entering the stack when the heater is not in use. Stack 28 slides onto the stackholder extension 27; similarly, stack 30 slides on the top of stack 28.

A soot remover is provided for the after burner 17 as is more clearly seen in FIG. 2. It has a handle 32 extending from the stack holder 27 which handle 32 connects to the soot remover which is a pair of rings 33 which are interconnected and wrapped around the after burner 17 for movement up and down by movement of the handle 32 for removing accumulated soot on the after burner. As can be seen from the arrows in FIG. 2, the air enters through the apertures 16 in the base 15, passing through the air duct 13 and through the fuel located in the interior portion of the burning pot where the fuel is burning and with the rising heat rising up through the stack 28 and 30. The air passing from the air duct 13 passes into the after burner 17 at the apertures 18 and 20 where it is forced in fine streams of air and intersects with the rising hear from the burner pot, just after the rising heated air is forced into the more narrow confines of the stack. At this point the rising gas from the burner pot is at its hottest and the influx of fresh air providing additional oxygen for the rising gases to produce more complete combustion and also heats the after burner to a very high temperature to increase its effectiveness even more. The heated air then rises on up through the stack and out the stack. The after burning effect increases the efficiency of the operation by more completely burning the fuel so that the pollutants entering the air from the heater are reduced and the amount of fuel required is similarly reduced resulting in longer operation of the heater for a given amount of fuel. Additionally the air passing through the base passes over the bottom of the oil burner container 10 helping to reduce the temperature of the bottom of the oil burner 10.

Referring more specifically to FIG. 4, a better view of the soot remover for the after burner can be seen having a handle 32 passing through stackholder 27 and connecting to a vertically extending support wire 36 for connection to a pair of wire rings 33 which are wrapped around the after burner 17 with its cap 21 attached. Thus movement of the handle 32 in an up and down motion will move the ring 33 up and down along the exterior surface of the after burner 17 breaking loose any accumulated soot on the after burner.

It should be clear at this point that an improved grove heater has been provided in which the flow of air generated by the draw of a stack on the grove heater has been utilized to pass the air so as to increase after burning for more complete combustion of the grove heater. which unit can be economically manufactured and assembled while reducing fuel requirements and air pollution. However, this invention is not to be construed as limited to the particular forms disclosed herein, since these are to be regarded as illustrative rather than restrictive.

I claim:

1. A grove heater apparatus comprising in combination:

a. a burning pot having bottom and side walls and adapted for burning fuel contained therein;

b. a removable hollow truncated cone base member having a plurality of apertures therein for passing of air therethrough and being adapted for said burning pot to set on;

c. an air duct means passing through the bottom of said burning pot and forming an air passage through said burning pot and being adapted for the passage of air therethrough from an opening in said bottom wall through said air duct, said air duct being tapered from a larger passageway at the bottom of said burning pot to a smaller passageway at the top portion of said burning pot whereby an improved draft is obtained;

d. after burner means attached to said air duct for directing air passing through said duct into rising gases from said burner pot, said after burner having a hollow cylindrical member having a plurality of openings therein at predetermined locations and having a cap covering one end thereof;

e. a stack having a removable, cover, said stack covering said after burner means and being attached on said burner pot; and soot remover means for removing soot from said after burner, said soot remover means including a plurality of member encircling said after burner means and having a handle attached thereto and extending through an opening in the side of said stack for moving said encircling members along the surface of said after burner without removing the stack means from said heater apparatus. 

1. A grove heater apparatus comprising in combination: a. a burning pot having bottom and side walls and adapted for burning fuel contained therein; b. a removable hollow truncated cone base member having a plurality of apertures therein for passing of air therethrough and being adapted for said burning pot to set on; c. an air duct means passing through the bottom of said burning pot and forming an air passage through said burning pot and being adapted for the passage of air therethrough from an opening in said bottom wall through said air duct, said air duct being tapered from a larger passageway at the bottom of said burning pot to a smaller passageway at the top portion of said burning pot whereby an imProved draft is obtained; d. after burner means attached to said air duct for directing air passing through said duct into rising gases from said burner pot, said after burner having a hollow cylindrical member having a plurality of openings therein at predetermined locations and having a cap covering one end thereof; e. a stack having a removable, cover, said stack covering said after burner means and being attached on said burner pot; and f. soot remover means for removing soot from said after burner, said soot remover means including a plurality of member encircling said after burner means and having a handle attached thereto and extending through an opening in the side of said stack for moving said encircling members along the surface of said after burner without removing the stack means from said heater apparatus. 